Victory over Japan: WWII photos at the British Library

Blog series Asian and African

Author Simran Bance, Print Room Coordinator and Cataloguer

As the 81st anniversary of Victory over Japan day is commemorated, Simran Bance explores how photographs held in the British Library preserve memories of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific. While the surrender of Germany in May 1945 brought the war in Europe to an end, fighting against Imperial Japan continued for several months, with Commonwealth forces engaged across Burma, India, Malaya and beyond. The Library’s photographic collections offer a window onto this complex and often overlooked history.

As this September marks 81 years since the official surrender of Japan and ‘Victory over Japan Day’, it is worth exploring how memories of this particular theatre of The Second World War are photographically archived at the British Library. In May 1945 after six years of brutal conflict, Germany’s armed forces unconditionally surrendered to the allies. Although Europe celebrated the liberation of its nations, this only marked the beginning of the end for the war in Asia.

World War II would continue in the Asian theatre, known as the Pacific War, for another three months where Commonwealth armies fought against the Japanese Imperial forces, who were still very much holding onto their occupied zones in countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Library’s photographic collection holds a number of albums and photographs capturing this period, including snapshots taken by soldiers and civilians as well as professional photographs of official wartime visits in the Commonwealth.

The true beginning

Though the Second World War as we know it officially began in 1939, marked by the invasion of Poland by Germany, in Asia conflict was underway much earlier. Escalating tensions between China and Japan, led to a full-scale invasion of China in 1937, marking the beginning of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War and the occupation of Shanghai. Although this battle has roots in early hostilities, it eventually became heavily intertwined with the events of the Second World War. Both conflicts coincided with one another, as Shanghai was liberated in 1945 after Japan had surrendered to the allies following the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This therefore marked the end of the Second World War and the Sino – Japanese War alike. In the Library’s collection there are several photo albums taken by either unknown photographers, amateur photographers, or press agency photographs that documents this battle. A key album is ‘1937: The Sino-Japanese Hostilities, Shanghai’ (Photo 1156/1). This album contains 106 prints. The album’s cloth cover is distinctively designed with Japanese planes dropping bomb on the city of Shanghai. 

‘Four Months of War: Shanghai 1937’ (Photo 1109), is another important visual record of the events in Shanghai; it was produced by an amateur photographer Karl Kengelbacher (1895-1981), a Swiss expatriate who moved to Shanghai in 1921. Karl personally witnessed the bombings and recorded the reactive measures taken on the ground, including the building of make-shift hospitals. The website Virtual Shanghai has published their copy of the album online for public consultation. Please note that there are distressing images and viewers should proceed with caution.

At India’s doorstep

During WWII, the British Empire covered nearly a quarter of the world’s landmass and the British Government utilised the manpower that the Commonwealth nations were able to provide. The armed forces drawn from what are now India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal constituted the second largest military personnel among the Commonwealth nations, after Britain. The British Indian Army, as it was known fought on virtually every battle front that Britain had been engaged in alongside the Royal Indian Navy and the Royal Indian Air Force.

The war arrived on India’s doorstep when Burma (today Myanmar) fell to the Japanese forces in May 1942. Researchers looking to explore the visual documentation of the impact of the war on Burma may wish to consult ‘Views of Burma’ (Photo 118). This is a collection of loose photographic prints taken by various photographers and firms including the South-East Asia Film Command Unit (British War Office) between 1910 and 1959. The collection includes prints of Burma during and after the war.

In exploring the contribution of South Asian soldiers in WWII, the Library’s collection includes a series of official photograph albums that were produced to document the career of the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army General Auchinleck (1884–1981). The Auchinleck Collection (Photo 18) was prepared by the Inter-Services PR Directorate and features documentary photographs of his official visits, inspections of the Indian army, alongside photographs of victory parades in New Delhi.

One of the highlights in the Auchinleck Collection, is Auchinleck meeting the women who were integral to the operations of the Wireless Experimental Centre in Delhi, an intelligence unit that was modelled on the British Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army. The Wireless Experimental Centre and its female workers specifically handled tasks such as morse code transmission and reception and other signal intelligence work, operating in various locations across India and modern-day Pakistan, as well as Burma.

The Burma campaign (1942–1945) itself was a major theatre for the Commonwealth forces who fought to supress the pressure of Imperial Japan. For three years, a multi-national army, the Fourteenth Army, also known as ‘The Forgotten Army’, fought a brutal campaign across Burma and Malaya (today Malaysia). The soldiers were made up of British, Indian, Nepalese, East and West African soldiers, and an estimated 40 languages were spoken. As well as the Fourteenth, there were other divisions consisting of commonwealth countries who fought alongside one another including the No. 6 Squadron of the Indian Air Force who are photographed below in the Cedric Dyke Collection (Photo 808/1).

Alan Cedric Dyke took photographs of his time serving in No. 6 Squadron throughout the Second World War; Photo 808 consists of four albums documenting his career. Dyke also went on to work on aeroplanes during key Cold War events such as the Berlin airlift in 1948-49. The inscription of the above image reads: ‘BBC London announces this day (12-5-44) one of our Indian Air force fighter reconnaissance Squadron operating in Arakan Front has completed more than 500 sorties in April. This Squadron is commanded by Squadron Leader Mehar Singh, D.S.O. They always fly in twins and are commonly known in our forces as Maungdaw Twins.’

The little recognition for these battles and divisions is a result of many cultural factors including the “Europe First” policy which was decided in 1941 between the United Kingdom and USA. It is also important to note that many significant events in Asia such as the fall of Burma, Thailand, Philippines and Malaya, overlapped with major European events, resulting in less coverage by media at the time.

New encounters

Aside from the brutality of this theatre of war, the movement of soldiers across the Asian continent meant that a new kind of global encounter was taking place. The mixing of culture and interests amongst multi-ethnic soldiers and civilians are heavily captured in photographs during their military activities and off duty explorations of Asia. The Cedric Dyke Collection also includes these images with snapshots of girls trying their skills at using a British Lee Enfield bolt action rifle (Photo 808/1(104)), as well as the ‘Victory Dinner’ at RAF Kohat, modern day Pakistan in 1945 (Photo 808/2(1-80).

An interview of Dyke recalling his memories between 1943-1946 can be found in the IWM Archives.

Another particularly interesting album of photographs compiled by American photographer Clyde Waddell and labelled ‘A Yank’s Memories of Calcutta’ (Photo 934) gives an insight into the experience of US GIs in India during the Second World War. Each photograph is personally and comically captioned to describe their off-duty adventures. The album was produced by Waddell at the request of his friends; he was then later flooded with requests from Americans and British for copies of his photographs. Requests became so enthusiastic that Waddell felt compelled to make the album more generally available through fellow GI agents. Photographs include scenes such as GIs touring Kolkata, purchasing gifts from curiosity shops, watching snake charmers in the street and visiting opium dens as well as brothels. Snapshots from this album are available online.

81 years on, aside from propagandist photography in wartime, these albums provide authenticity as a primary source for early 21st-century wartime relations. So, whether it is researching the unlikely encounters and lesser-known histories of the Second World War, or studying the relations of soldiers and civilians on the Pacific home front, the photographic collection at the British Library provides an insight into this conflict on camera — which you can browse on our Archives and Manuscripts catalogue.

For those who are interested in viewing the collections mentioned or wish to consult other photographic albums relating to war and conflict, you can book an appointment with us in the Print Room. The Print Room is located in the Asia and Africa Reading Room and is open on weekday mornings from 10.00 – 12.30. For appointment requests and for any questions regarding this topic, please email apac-prints@bl.uk.

Further reading

Walter, Brian, Forgotten War: The British Empire and Commonwealth’s Epic Struggle Against Imperial Japan, 1941–1945, (2023)

Somerville, Christopher, Our War, (1998)

Holland, James, Burma ‘44, (2017)

Shawin, Hiroko, Japan's World War II Legacy: Interviews with Japanese Veterans: Interviews with Japanese Survivors, (2017).